Firewire is a high speed serial communication standard, also know as IEEE 1394 that was developed by Apple. The initial transmit/rcv speeds are 400Mbits/s, with plans to migrate to 800Mbs. Many IC vendors make chips for it - TXN, IBM, Philips ....
The transfer rate for USB is 12Mbs. Many high end digital camcorders can stream out via Firewire to a PC/MAC.
Here is some recent info:
Chip suppliers look at methods to design IEEE 1394b
By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News
May 1, 2000 (6:53 AM)
URL: ebnews.com
A new method to implement the next-generation IEEE 1394b interface may return the technology to the PC, dramatically escalating sales of the supporting components. Presenters at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference 2000 (WinHEC) in New Orleans last week asked chip suppliers to develop a PIL-FOP method of designing 1394b chips. The approach won public support but as yet no product endorsements from Intel Corp., which cut the 1394a implementation from its chipset road map more than two years ago.
Behind the scenes, vendors are jockeying for position. The 1394b specification is in the final stages of ratification, but companies like Lucent Technologies Inc. have had 1394b device silicon for two years and are waiting for final approval to bring their chips to market.
The suggested method is similar to the approach Intel has endorsed to separate the digital and analog portions of PC audio in its Audio Codec '97 (AC'97) specification. Intel and other companies believe that a 1394b implementation should include a digital PHY Integrated Link, potentially integrated into the chipset, and a Fan-Out PHY (FOP), a separate chip that could be built onto the motherboard or external devices to allow backward-compatibility with the existing 1394a standard.
?It's the only method to implement 1394 on the PC,? said Steve Bard, a member of Intel's Mobile Computing Group.Although declining to comment on product plans, he said Intel remains committed to 1394 on the PC and will help to support the technology through software, design engineering, and other services.
IEEE 1394a has become the de facto interface for consumer electronics, and Apple Computer Inc., whose ?FireWire? technology formed the basis for the industry-standard IEEE 1394 specification, has made IEEE 1394a a key component of its iMac digital-video-editing stations.
Jim |
